Kings stifle Royals to get 5-wicket win

Guwahati, May 15

Skipper Sam Curran played the lead act, taking two wickets and hitting a well-paced fifty, as Punjab Kings consigned Rajasthan Royals to a five-wicket defeat in their IPL match.

The target was a mere 145, but Kings made heavy weather of it on a sluggish track but Curran (63 not out off 41 balls) had a calm head and the skills to lift them to their fifth win of the season. PBKS made 145/5 in 18.5 overs.

The Englishman received good support from Jitesh Sharma (22 off 20 balls) as the pair added 63 runs in a fluent fifth-wicket partnership.

Rabada returns home

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South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada has returned home due to a lower limb soft tissue infection. The injury is unlikely to impact Rabada’s preparation for the T20 World Cup. PTI

Great character from the team. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the season, enjoyed captaining. If we win our next game we finish on 12 points. So I feel this team was close to something but it wasn’t meant to be. Sam Curran, PBKS captain and player of the match

For Royals, it was their fourth defeat on the trot but they remained second on the table with 16 points.

Earlier, despite a well-tuned 48 from local hero Riyan Parag, RR struggled against an array of accurate bowlers.

R Ashwin (28 off 19) and Parag (48 off 34) tried to accelerate during their 50-run stand for the fourth wicket but it could only bring in temporary momentum for RR.

“To be very honest, we have to sit back and accept that we are going through some failures,” RR captain Sanju Samson said. “You have to find out what’s not working well as a team.” — PTI 

Brief scores

RR: 144/9 in 20 overs (Parag 48; Curran 2/24; Chahar 2/26) vs PBKS: 145/5 in 18.5 overs (Curran 63*; Avesh 2/28)

Tuesday’s result

DC: 208/4 in 20 overs (Porel 58, Stubbs 57*; Naveen 2/41) vs LSG: 189/9 in 20 overs (Pooran 61; Ishant 3/34)